“Wow... Isn’t this completely different from what I expected?”

"Yes, this is serious.”

Huroi, Peak Sword, and Pon entered Siren. They climbed onto the walls of sand and frowned as they looked at the battlefield. The level of the players who invaded Siren was so high that it exceeded the range assumed.

“There are 1,000 of them. The average level is in the mid 200s.”

"Of those, around 30 are third advancement classes. This isn’t at the level of rabble. They’re specialized in combat.”

The words were surprisingly casual. No, they weren’t enjoying it as the players slaughtered the people and soldiers of Siren. The eyes of the three people were observing the movements, equipment, and skills of the enemies when they noticed something in the center of the battlefield.

"Eh?”

"Regas is being pushed?”

"White? Who’s that?”

Regas had entered the battlefield first with Katz. Pon and the others weren’t concerned about him. Who was Regas? He was a talented person who fought against Damian in PvP. If Kraugel and Grid were classified as SSS-grade, Regas was SS-grade. In other words, he was strong. He could dance naked on the battlefield and it was still unlikely he would die from an enemy.

Thus, Pon’s group weren’t worried about him. But what was this?

White. A fat woman with an unfamiliar ID was completely overwhelming Regas. She was better than Regas in stats, skills, and control, forcing Regas on the defensive. It was a level where he was being beaten. In other words, White was a monster on the level of Kraugel.

“Where has a woman like that been hiding?”

The first time Kraugel became known to the world. People were shocked at how strong a player could be. They thought Kraugel was an NPC. Now there was White. She showed a shocking presence the first time she appeared in the world, just like Kraugel.

“...The world is wide.”

Shake shake.

Pon’s body trembled. Was it from fear and tension? Of course, he felt such emotions. But he was feeling more jubilant. Pon was pursuing the peak. In order to become stronger, he had a tendency to crave fighting the strong. Just like Regas, who was laughing as he fought White. For them, White was a new challenge and a platform for growth.

“I will join Regas. You should take care of the rest.”

"There are no small fries here.” Peak Sword grabbed Pon’s shoulder, reminding him that the enemies were strong. "I understand your heart, but please put up with it. What we have to do now is reduce the number of enemies as much as possible while Regas is tying up that monster’s feet.”

“Peak Sword is right. It’s our job to keep the damage to the water clan as minimal as possible until the reinforcements arrive. Forget your personal matters.”

“Cough...”

Pon recovered his cool thanks to Peak Sword and Huroi, pulling out a spear. He regretted his greed and used Rail Spear.

"Isn’t it okay to throw this to help Regas?”

The muscles of Pon’s right arm swelled and made a strange sound. Peak Sword and Huroi held their tongues as they saw Pon’s arm twisted at an angle that seemed impossible.

‘That looks terrible.’

There were skills that caused pain in exchange for their use. There were also skills that caused a loss of health and physical defects. Among them was Pon’s Rail Spear. Pon had to pay a heavy penalty in exchange for using Rail Spear. Instead, the effect was amazing.

Peeeeeong!

Huroi and Peak Sword gulped a few times as they watched. Pon’s Rail Spear flew towards White, who was 300 meters away. It was a skill that was impossible to avoid, causing White to let out a scream of pain as her back was pierced. Thanks to this, Regas was able to breathe and he raised a thumb in thanks.

“Wow. That idiot about fighting thanked you for helping him."

“Yes. I thought he would be mad about the interference.”

"That girl is really strong.”

Tension started to appear on the faces of the three men. They finally faced the seriousness of the situation. Some of the Blood Carnival members slaughtering the water clan turned to look at them.

“Pon!”

“Peak Sword!”

"Why are these Overgeared people...?”

"They’re trying to interfere with us!”

Their position was exposed in exchange for helping Regas and they missed the chance of a surprise attack. The three people exchanged looks as they were targeted by the enemy and then started their own actions.

“Our future missus Yura is prettier!”

The orator Huroi boosted morale with sweet words.

“Draw Sword.”

Piing.

The Ideal Longsword emitted a white light inside the sheath made by Grid.

"Sudden.”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Most of the players heading over here, except the third advancement users, died from the blow.

“Phew.”

Pon was impressed by Peak Sword’s strike and rode a white horse. His spear reached the bottom of the cliff in an instant, and every time he moved in a straight line, two or three enemies died. The water clan people who were saved thanked the group with tears of appreciation. Pon’s eyes sharpened as he saw a young child who wouldn’t leave the body of his dead mother.

"Fall into misery.”

“Crazy...! Stop him!"

As everyone knew, strength was relative. Just as Pon saw White as a monster, the Blood Carnival users and their army saw Pon as a monster.

***

“I’ve seen an immortal skill, but this is the first time I’ve seen a resurrection skill. Is it a class trait? Or the effect of an item or title? I very much covet it.”

“Hiit! Yihihihit!

The first fight took 4 minutes and 31 seconds, while the second fight took 5 minutes and 20 seconds. Euphemina barely managed to overpower Black and placed a hand on Black’s head. It was a small and soft hand. There was a good scent. But Black could feel it. The stench of death was covered by this sweet fragrance.

Peeok!

[Retribution]

A C-grade spell. Unusually, the power of this spell varied according to the distance at which it was used. It had the strength of a B-grade spell when used in close range. Euphemina identified that Black’s head was smashed and that she’d died, before taking a deep breath.

"Resurrecting twice is impossible.”

She received a whisper from Huroi that he arrived in Siren. Euphemina wanted to quickly join her colleagues and minimize the damage to the water clan. However...

“Hiit! Yihihihit! You, are you getting weaker?"

“...Eh.”

Black, whose head had been blown away, appeared in front of Euphemina in a perfect state. Perhaps it wasn’t a simple resurrection skill, but a higher level technique.

“You’re just like a cockroach.”

Euphemina cried out as she once again attacked Black with magic. At the same time, an explosion occurred that sent shock waves in every direction, destroying a building. Euphemina’s quest wasn’t just to protect the people of Siren, but the facilities as well.

Euphemina started to feel nervous. Her skills, mana, and stamina were being rapidly consumed, causing her to think about Grid. Euphemina blushed and shook her head.

'This isn’t about any feelings. I was just reminded of that guy.’

“Hiit? Uhit?”

Euphemina was blushing alone in the midst of battle. Black looked at her strangely. She was being treated as strange by a crazy person. Euphemina’s battle concentration rose because of the unpleasant feeling.

***

"30 unofficial rankers...? And sun-grade users?” Lauel analyzed the information arriving from the advance team and was convinced. ‘Blood Carnival.’

A force superior to the seven guilds. No, maybe they were comparable to Overgeared. The group that invaded Siren this time held a large number of unofficial rankers.

‘I didn’t want to be hostile to such a group.’

Blood Carnival was a group that only pursued money and fun, not knowing common sense or morality. It was obvious that becoming hostile to them would be tiring in many ways. Jishuka saw Lauel’s troubled expression and gave an alluring smile.

“Don’t worry. If we handle this perfectly, they’ll be so afraid of us that they won’t bother us again.”

Lauel laughed heartily. “That’s correct. We have to smash them so that they won’t become hostile to us anymore.”

Unlike his words, Lauel was feeling uncomfortable. White was at the level of a sun.

‘It would’ve been nice if I brought Faker.’

To be honest, Lauel judged that him and the first team could save Siren with Euphemina. Therefore, he only brought eight members with him. The reason he thought it would be easy? It was because the force invading Siren were ‘players.’ He considered them to be at the level of an average player.

However, he was mistaken. It was unexpected that the worst group out of two billion users, Blood Carnival, would be involved.

‘It will be hard. If only Grid was here...’

Why didn’t he pick up his phone? Lauel was sighing when a guild notification window popped up.

[Master ‘Grid’ is connected.]

***

The structure of a virtual reality game was very simple. The player transmitted brain waves to the server and the server implemented the movements of the player based on the brain waves. The reaction in Satisfy was slightly slower than it was in reality.

Let’s say it was 0.1 second. But the worst and cheapest capsule that Grid had been using for over two years was 0.3 seconds late. It was an early model and had technical limitations. Grid had never shown interest in the capsule itself and didn’t consider it important. He didn’t think about the 0.3 second delayed reaction time and used the existing capsule.

Then he felt something in the 2nd National Competition. Fast reactions. As soon as he thought about stretching out his hand, it moved. When he tried to say something, it instantly popped out. It was a subtle difference, but it was hard to adapt to for a while.

And today.

“Heok.”

Grid experienced a new world. His body moved like it did in reality. There wasn’t the slightest disparity between thinking and speaking. He was connected to Satisfy, but why did he feel like it was reality?

“T-This...!” Grid was filled with joy as he recalled the ‘best sync rate’ that was stated in the instructions of the diamond capsule. “I can please Irene even more!”

He could move his waist more quickly and...

Omitted.

“What?”

Lululala~

Grid was humming as he headed to Irene’s room when he suddenly stopped. A whisper arrived from Lauel.